Vertical vane or louver hanger assemblies are well-known in the art and are a common fixture in households and office buildings. Each vertical vane is usually 31/2 inches wide and is hung from a hanger assembly inside a carrier which rides on a track in the head rail. In a typical installation, 10-30 vertical vanes and their supporting carriers and hanger assemblies are hung on a head rail. Each carrier and hanger assembly unit rides on wheels in the head rail. There is also a splined pinion rod through which the carrier hanger assembly units are held in place and along which the carriers and hanger assembly units move back and forth on this splined pinion rod There is also a looped hanging chain at one end which, when pulled by the user, rotates the pinion rod causing the vertical vanes to rotate about their vertical axes in unison with one another.
The vertical louver or vane carrier and assembly units as described in the Wyatt patent 4,559,670 have an individual vane adjustment feature. By twisting the vertically hung vane, that particular vane can be positioned individually and independently of the other hanging vanes. In this way, the occupant of an office building or a dwelling in which the blind system is installed can customize the orientation of the faces of the vanes to one's personal preference. Oftentimes the louvers, vanes or slats, have to be adjusted and oriented individually to compensate for bright sunlight and the like.
The vertical vanes can be adjusted individually as disclosed in 4,559,670 by twisting the individual vane, or in unison by pulling on the side chain. Either way, each vane can be rotated 180 degrees for complete control of the entering light, ventilation or for privacy.
An additional feature of a typical vertical blind system, is that the vanes can be drawn and stacked to the sides of the window casing to provide for an unrestricted view through the window if desired. In effect, the vertical blind system functions like a drapery system, with the added versatility of allowing adjustment of the vanes about their vertical axes. Over a period of time the clips holding the vanes become brittle, and one or more of them breaks off. This is probably due to heat, which over a period of time evaporates one or more volatile compounds from the DELRIN 500 plastic from which the plastic components are made, leaving a brittle shell. This is most prevalent in installations where a headrail is mounted under a valance in a sunny climate. Temperatures can reach nearly 200 degrees in these enclosed box spaces in areas like Palm Springs or Las Vegas. When a clip breaks off, it must be replaced.
In the prior art, when an individual hanger assembly becomes broken or damaged, then the entire head rail assembly has to be dismantled from the casing and each carrier and hanger assembly unit taken off the pinion rod so that the replacement carrier and hanger assembly unit can be put back in into its proper sequence.
The inventor saw the inconvenience and time consuming procedure of removing and dismantling the entire vertical blind system to replace one individual or several hanger assemblies. Accordingly, the inventor invented a detachable cartridge assembly which snaps in and snaps out of place into the carrier for the hanger assembly This cartridge assembly comprises the portion which is most prone to damage and breakdown. By having a replaceable cartridge assembly, the repairman can simply stand on a ladder to reach the top of the head rail to remove the louver or vane, snap out the damaged cartridge assembly, replace it with a new undamaged one which is snapped into place, and then re-attaching the vertical vane to the cartridge assembly.